Halloween 2026 falls on a Saturday, so the bars, the scare attractions and the first weeks of the light-trail season all peak on the same night. Book stewards, admissions, bar and floor people who have read the site plan and will stand outside in the rain because they chose the shift.
Halloween is the first stress test of the winter events calendar. Light trails at country estates, gardens and parks open from the middle of October and run every evening into January. Scare attractions on farms and in old buildings run a three-week season with their busiest nights in the last week of the month. City-centre bars trade the Halloween weekend like a bank holiday. Family events, pumpkin patches and markets fill the daytimes. All of it needs staff at the same time, and most of it needs them outdoors, in the dark, in the weather.
Because the big weekend lands on Saturday 31 October this year, with the Friday and the Sunday either side, the pinch is sharper than usual. The clocks have gone back the weekend before, so trail sessions start earlier and the evenings are long. Our Halloween bookings are on the standard rate card. The festive uplift begins on 1 December and does not apply to October. There is no surge rate for the 31st.
Outdoor Halloween work fails for boring reasons: nobody told the steward where the welfare tent was, the admissions team could not see the scanners in the dark, the bar ran out of change at 7pm. Our written brief, sent 48 hours before, covers the site plan, the meeting point, the radio channel, the welfare and first-aid points, the layers to wear, the finish time and how people get home from a field at 10pm. A phone call three hours before confirms it. Photo check-in on arrival tells you who is on site.
Booked hours are paid hours. If the trail closes early for wind, the people we sent are still paid the full shift, and that is why they come back the next night. Your named account manager is on the phone from 7am to 2am on every day we have people working. If anyone is not right, tell us in the first hour and there is no charge for them.
Halloween is also where the December team is built. People who work a wet trail in October are the ones we book first for the festive season. See the Christmas 2026 page for the festive rate and the book-by dates.
Halloween bookings are charged at the standard national rate. Per hour, excluding VAT. What we pay is shown next to what you pay.
| Tier | We pay them | You pay us |
|---|---|---|
| CoreBar staff, waiting, runners, kitchen porters, event crew, stewards, cloakroom, admissions | £14.00 + 12.07% holiday | £25.00 |
| SkilledCocktail bartenders, baristas, fine-dining and box waiters, hosts, brand ambassadors, team leaders | £16.50 + holiday | £28.00 |
| LeadSupervisors, event managers, chefs de partie | £20.00 + holiday | £34.00 |
| Senior chefSous chefs, head chefs | £24.00 + holiday | £40.00 |
Every client booking carries the same five guarantees, written into our terms of business.
Written, itemised, ex VAT, 8am to 8pm every day. Three hours outside that.
Your account manager's mobile is on the booking confirmation, answered on any day we have people working.
Anyone not right? Tell us in the first hour. No charge for them and a replacement on the way.
New clients get one person for one four-hour shift free on their first booking. See what you are buying.
Names confirmed within two hours of booking. If we cannot fill a position we say so at booking, never on the day.
No. Late October is charged at the standard rate card: Core £25.00, Skilled £28.00, Lead £34.00, senior chef £40.00 per hour ex VAT. The festive uplift starts on 1 December.
Yes. We book a core team for the run so the same people return night after night, and hold standby people for wet evenings and sickness. Shifts are typically four to seven hours from late afternoon.
No to both. Door supervision needs an SIA licence and we refer it to a licensed partner. We supply stewards, admissions, queue management, cloakroom, bar, floor and event crew.
In writing 48 hours before, covering the site plan, meeting point, radio channel, welfare and first-aid points, clothing, finish time and transport home. A phone call three hours before confirms it, and everyone photo checks in on arrival.
The cancellation ladder applies: free more than 48 hours out, 50% between 24 and 48 hours, 100% inside 24 hours. Whatever is paid goes to the people who kept the night free, and anyone already on site is paid the full booked shift.
Or start at the home page for the whole rate card, the instant estimate and how we take people on.
Your brief lands with Tasmyn or Liam, not a queue. A written quote within 60 minutes (8am to 8pm) and a call if anything needs clarifying. A named mobile is given to every client at booking.
Every person paid through our PAYE payroll, so you carry no status risk. Right-to-work checks before day one. Employers' Liability £10m, Public Liability £10m. Certificates with your first confirmation.
Keep them. Use us for the shifts they cannot fill, or the ones that matter most. Overflow is where most first clients start.
Short on people for a big weekend? We supply overflow to other agencies on the same published terms.